This blog shares stories and photographs about outdoor travels in the Northwest.

Friday, April 05, 2013

Watching Spring Bloom at Mill Creek and McKay Creek

April 3/4, 2013
Wednesday 7:17 p.m.
I'm still groggy from sleep. A storm whips from the southwest to the east, up Balm Street with a cold rain and a buffeting wind.
I had an urge to dress in a wool sweater, a wind-and-rain deflecting rain coat, waterproof hiking boots and take Nora (dressed in her red Ruff Wear raincoat) for a stroll along lonely downtown streets.
The urge passed.

Nora lies on her stomach, resting her chin on a stuffed hedgehog and facing an NCIS rerun on TV. So, let me reminisce about a recent pair of photo outings.
Nora and I walked from Rooks Park, on Mill Creek, across the bridge and onto the bluff above the flood plain. I carried a macro outfit, with twin flashes and a 1.4 extender attached to a 105-mm full-frame lens.

Towering clouds rushed from the west to open alternating patches of blue sky. and shade to challenge camera settings. Nevertheless, from the bluff I took photos of the budding spring announcing its presence in the clumps of tress along the stream. Within a day or two, surely within a week, the tree limbs will tremble in the breezes with fully fledged clothing.
On the way back, with sun spots along the creek, jumping spiders warmed on the fence railing below the dam. Snap! Snap!, Snap!

Thursday, Noon
We drove to McKay Creek. We saw deer, wild turkeys and pheasants, and glommed a few good photos.

On the way back, I talked to the manager of the store-gift shop at the Arrowhead Truck Shop. I proposed that he place some of my photos (13 by 19 and 81/2 by 11) in his shop. He liked the photos, but it didn’t work out because he had no way to display them.
Hyped by the idea, despite the rejection, I went to Darrah’s in WW. He suggested getting the large photos laminated and buying cellophane sleeves for the smaller ones, and he would display them … for 15 percent of the sale price.
I did, and left several with him. We’ll see how it goes.

About Me

Now retired, I once spent several hours each week, sometimes several days, traveling with Darlene and Nora the Schnauzer (since Sadie the Dalmatian died) in the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, often with a fly rod and/or a backpack and always with a camera, to research columns for the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin . See photos at www.tripper.smugmug.com.